LYNN — It was Senior Night for the Spartans on Monday when they hosted St. John’s Prep, and boy, did one senior in particular show out. Omri Merryman was firing on all cylinders as he went off for 31 points (seven three-pointers) to help lift St. Mary’s to a 92-70 win.
After the Eagles hit two free throws to start the second half, the score favored St. Mary’s 44-37. Eagles guard Liam Buys (20 points) hit back-to-back threes to get his team to within three in the third.
That was the closest things would get as St. Mary’s, behind Merryman, erupted. He scored 16 of his 31 in the quarter with 12 of them coming from behind the arc.
“It was good seeing Omri getting his shot going again,” head coach David Brown said.
Prep head coach Dave Clay said “he had a good night,” referring to Merryman.
The Spartans finished the quarter outscoring the Eagles by 10 points, giving them a 74-55 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles broke the St. Mary’s press early on to create open looks, but the Spartans’ plan was to wear down the Eagles and force turnovers.
In the fourth, it happened. The Spartans were everywhere on the defensive end and made the Eagles earn every point. Their full-court-press was effective as it suffocated the Eagles.
“We wanted to speed the game up as much as possible to take advantage of our strength, which is our quickness,” Brown said. “We knew their guards were young, so we tried to turn them over and pressure them as much as possible. Once we got going, we got some turnovers which led to easy baskets.”
“Credit to the Prep in the first half. They did a good job taking care of the basketball [and] getting their big guys involved in spots against our rotations,” Brown said.
Clay described the Spartans pressure as “very good.”
The pressure never stopped. The Spartans held the Eagles to just six fourth-quarter points, and that was all she wrote.
When asked about his group of seniors on their special night, Brown said they’re “special” to him, and most of the guys have been with him since they were young.
“Omri [Merryman] has been with me since he was in second grade – through AAU and travel basketball; I had Anthony D’Itria since fourth or fifth grade; [Nick] Sacco I had since eighth grade; Derrick [Coulanges} and Omri have been with me and part of my life for a long time,” Brown said.
St. Mary’s next game will be Tuesday when it hosts Bishop Feehan at 6:30 p.m. Prep returns to action next Monday against Wachusett Regional with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m.
